"Be patient," Marino told the crowd. "You look around the NFL and things don't just turn around overnight. Be patient with this group and hopefully the young quarterback works out great for us."

He also basically told Ryan Tannehill to nut-up and throw the damn ball.

Normally when The Right Arm Of God speaks, his words are gospel.

He says be patient, then everyone shut the hell up and be patient.

Except that we've been waiting for this so-called turnaround since the Carter administration. And all signs point to SUCK as far this franchise's future is concerned.

Patience? Pffft.

This coming from a guy who would stare down any receiver who would drop a pass, then would bark at them in the middle of the field until they shat a litter of baby seahorses.

Marino also dispensed advice to Tannehill, who will be the first Dolphins rookie quarterback to begin the season as the starter.

"I would tell him to have a short memory," Marino said. "If you have some bad games, forget about it. Play with a lot of confidence. Obviously they all believe in him because they picked him and he's the starting quarterback. I would tell him, just go out there and turn it loose."

Let it loose while you're being chased and you're running away from oncoming linebackers who will eventually dislodge your spleen because your offensive line is shit and you have exactly zero receivers open. Let 'er rip, young man!

"Ryan Tannehill is going to have to grow with the people around him and learn as much as he can on the run."

Literally.

Aside from everything else, though, it is rather cool that Marino is giving advice to Tannehill. Sort of a passing of the torch (hopefully). And he even relates a story about defensive back Lyle Blackwood telling a then young-Marino that if he screws up his first start, the team will lose.

During an episode of Hard Knocks, when Tannehill is named the starter, offensive lineman Richie Incognito told him, "Don't fuck it up."

So there are some incidental similarities there.

But Marino is happy the Dolphins are throwing Tannehill into the fire rather than have him learn from the sidelines like some candy-assed clipboard holder.

"There's a lot of pressure on him, but they're in a rebuilding phase right now, and I like the idea of starting a young quarterback right away."

Hey, they threw me out there as a rookie and I proceeded to dent asses for the next 16 years!

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